The Jane Goodall of Wales

This charming man, who has been observing the same sett of badgers for 26 years, spent the first five gaining their acceptance. Amazing that he found the time to serve as Robin Williams’ voice coach for Mrs. Doubtfire.

References to “the cull” on Morgan’s website refer to the ongoing project to kill a large portion of Britain’s badgers on the theory – very hotly contested – that they are responsible for the spread of bovine tuberculosis and that it will somehow miraculously disappear in their absence. A brutal and misguided project.

Me neither, but there is the remarkable behavior of elephants with regard to their dead, the fondling of bones when they pass by the remains of one of the group long since deceased. And the refusal to accept it, propping up the corpses of babies long dead and trying to make them walk.

Intensely social animals with big brains get all kinds of weird ideas.

thanks for the Gidget snark. I was talking to a neighbor who had a quite young chihuahua, and she asked my dogs age. I told her he was a pup in the Yo quiero Taco Bell age. (Everyone thought they were so clever and original mentioning it to me)

The American badger is a whole different critter, but closely related. There are a lot of them on our land. They don’t care to have anything to do with people, giving the very clear impression that they are irritated and annoyed by your presence. For that reason alone I liked them.